tools for learning and development of entrepreneurial competencies

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II. OPERATION FRAMEWORK FOR TRAINING FIRMS Training firm represent a teaching concept, based on practical learning. It constitutes a simulation of a real business and it is supported through the direct involvement of a coordinating teacher. A training firm is a simulated exercise, which reflects the real operations of a business within a domain of interest. It is a simulation of a real professional situation with the purpose of achieving educational goals. Based on its open nature, the firm can interconnect with other similar training firms within the network and it is able to establish contracts with other market players and other simulated firms. The reason for the development of on open office within a training firm, without involving real production of goods, is to simulate real business processes and to cover all the basic business activities, without standing the risk of failure. When students become part of a training firm, they can observe and track all business processes, the relationship that emerges between them, and also the management of a company. The training firm operates in an office equipped with appropriate furniture, where students can access all the learning techniques that allow them to perform economical and commercial operations based on the simulation of a real competitive environment. The main goal of this exercise is to allow students to activate in the simulation environment of a company in order to acquire key competencies that enable them to operate successfully in the real economic world. Figure 1. Key competences formed within a training firm After a practical training sequence with specialized teachers, the students will be able to: - Organize and lead the activity within the service companies; - Develop the offer for the company’s products and services; - Tracking the company's accounting; - Perform financial analysis and economic efficiency of the company. 2.1 Main characteristics of training firms Moving towards a high level practical training in education contributes to the promotion and the development of the students’ entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial competences, based on modern information technology and the opportunity to use foreign languages. National and international students have business contacts, exercise their language skills and get to know the business cultures of other countries. The relationships developed within a learning cycle among training firms can be maintained for future use and can be restored when a new session begins. The previous teams can introduce the
usiness contacts to the newcomers. This creates a solid operational context for simulation and students integrate in a more complex environment that allows them to get closer to real life situations. The traditional role of the teacher, within practice firms, changes and the educational priorities become more obvious. The practical training can be based on three design models: - The learning office; simulation of economic activities based on a closed didactic model; - The practice firm, a model of simulation for the real economic process in a real company; - The junior firm, activates in the store, laboratory, consultancy office in the school. In order to carry out the processes required within a training firm, it is necessary to provide a laboratory with the economic, theoretical and practical conditions students need to activate. In this environment, the training firm: - Carries put its activity as a real company, but with virtual goods and money, according to the national legislation in force; - Implement knowledge on a real working place, under the methodological management of the teacher; - Carries out the connection between the educational and the professional environment; - Provides the opportunity to involve experts from the practical area; - Eliminates important problems that would have appeared based on wrong decisionmaking, if operating in a real environment. - realizează legătura între şcoală şi mediul profesional; 2.2 Educational purpose and tasks of training firms The teachers play a crucial role in preparing the Company or throughout the exercise. They must have skills and knowledge of commerce and management. Diverse training firms are consultants and organizers of the training process and must master the principle of the practice-oriented training. They offer consultations and foster independence in training firms, verify the knowledge and skills acquired by students, motivate, activate and guide the work of students. The teachers sustain students to assume responsibilities, to make decisions, to participate within the team, to think critically, to solve unexpected problems that might occur. The teachers act both like active moderators and co-participants. They will encourage self-management, initiative and students’ self-evaluation, and boost work team. They will be both consultants and instructors, acting towards the immediate improvement of work and solving conflict situations. Working in a training firm brings new opportunities and challenges for teachers as well: - Teamwork requires qualities such as responsibility, organizational skills, exactness, precision, accuracy, conflict-solving skills. - Training firms involve knowledge from various domains of activity, such as accounting, law, information technology, or social science, and this is a demanding work that implies the teacher must have extra knowledge in these fields. - Training firms study and apply the norms .established for its activity (laws, government decisions, emergency government decisions and so on); the teacher must constantly update his/ her knowledge. - By simulating real situations, the students become aware of the specific objectives of enterprises, and they understand its organization structure. This requires that the teacher maintains a close relationship with the real enterprise correspondent to the virtual one. - The role the teacher is different. S/he supports the activity, coordinates and controls it. This makes his/ her work more complex and difficult, but also more interesting. The training firms implies the use of diverse methodologies, of simulation, individual and team work, imaginary discussions, presentations and case studies. The experience of students and teachers within the firm of exercise resulted in numerous awards received by the Economic College "Ion Ghica" Târgovişte at international expositions concerning training firms.
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tools for learning and development of entrepreneurial competencies

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